Harry Potter and the Battle of Equals
by Dreamerhk
Summary: Harry's summer at the Burrow is drawing to a close, it was an awkward one and quite upsetting. However now all he's looking forward to is seeing Cho Chang on the Hogwarts Express. Yes, it's another year at Hogwarts but what does is have in store for Harry


Fan Fiction  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Lying back on his make shift bed Harry listened to the wails and moans from the resident ghoul in the attic of the Burrow. He would have been ecstatically happy if it had not been for one thing. Sirius. He was gone, a friend Harry had for only over a year and he had died trying to help Harry. Instead of having to suffer a summer of unbelievable boredom and the Dursleys looking down their noses at him, the Weasleys had asked him to the burrow after only 10 days at the Dursleys and he was there and settled only two weeks after leaving Hogwarts. This of course delighted the Dursleys who on hearing the news booked a four weeked holiday to the Bahamas. Harry was distracted for a minute picturing Dudly in swimming trunks, he doubted that they made ones big enough to fit him, he almost laughed. His summer at the Burrow with the Weasley family was almost over. It had been fun but not as good as the two weeks he had spent there two summers ago. Everything had been overshadowed by the fact that Ron's older brother Percy was still not talking to his family and Sirius's death. They had all decided that Sirius would have wanted Grimmauld Place to continue being used for Order of the Phoenix and after what happened the Order was more active then ever with more and more people being put on dangerous assignments. Mrs. Weasley tried to keep Harry, Ron and Hermione away and she had come to casting tragic looks at Harry whenever she thought he wasn't looking. Harry knew she was worried about him and he often just wanted to open up and spill all his feelings to her but he couldn't do it. He felt alone now, Sirius wasn't there as a father figure looking after him and even though the Weasleys were the most fantastic people and the closest Harry had ever come to real family it just wasn't the same. He had never missed his parents more and with the dull weight of what he had found out about the prophecy. Either he had to kill Voldemort or Voldemort had to kill him. It really didn't bare thinking about but he knew he would have to face it sooner or later. Harry rolled over onto his side where he could see his and Ron's half-packed Hogwarts trunks at the end of the room. Tomorrow they would take the Hogwarts express back to the castle for their sixth year. Their owl results had come over the holiday and Hermione had sent them an owl from France to tell them she had received an Outstanding in everything and she was so relieved. Ron and Harry had been expecting nothing less of course. Harry had been quite pleased with his grades managing 'Exceeds Expectations' and 'Acceptable' in everything. Not too surprising though he had received an 'Outstanding' in Defence Against the Dark Arts he had battled through more then even some teachers. And an 'Outstanding' in care of Magical Creatures. He smiled as he thought of Hagrid. He was thankful he had passed Potions and Divination with an 'Acceptable' but poor Ron had got a 'Poor' in Potions. Ron got 'Acceptable' in everything else and the only subject he'd done better than Harry at had been Divination where he got 'Exceeds Expectations.' When his mother heard their results she had smothered then in hugs and showered them with home made treats, it was only afterwards that she scolded Ron about his potions grade but she wasn't too upset. Again Harry felt a pang in his heart, Sirius hadn't even got to see his results. Drawn back to the present by the absence of Ron's usual snores he realized he wasn't the only one lying awake. It must be dawn for sunlight was now illuminating the small top floor bedroom. 'Ron?' He whispered. 'Yea?' 'So what do you want to do on our last day of freedom?' Harry sighed, he didn't know what he was in the mood for, he still had a gaping hole in his stomach, he missed knowing that Sirius wasn't looking out for him. 'Pack and get ready I guess, and one last game of Quidditch, I suppose!' Harry, Ron, Fred and George and Ron's older brother Bill and younger sister Ginny had been having a continuous Quidditch match, it was best being out of the house, Mr and Mrs. Weasley were still upset about Percy and sometimes the tension was unbareable. Ron's other brother Charlie had come home for three weeks but had to return to work. They hadn't seen Hermione but had had several owls from her, telling about her holiday in Spain, she wanted to spend as much time with her parents over the summer as she could because she said she missed them a lot while she was at Hogwarts. 'Yea,' Ron sighed. Neither he nor Harry seemed very interested in getting up and admitting that it was the last day of the holidays. But eventually they reluctantly got up, had breakfast and began packing their Hogwarts trunks. Mrs. Weasley came in carrying a pile of laundry which she set in both their trunks. 'Nearly finished boys?' She asked. Harry looked around the empty room and wondered would he be back next summer. 'Yea I think so.' 'And you alright, Harry dear?' 'Yea I'm fine.' Mrs. Weasley nodded but didn't look convinced. 'Oh Ron give me that robe, I've just stopped a hole in it.' With a wave of her wand magic thread was quickly patching up the small hole at the hem of one of Ron's robes. The rest of the day was spend playing a very half hearted game of Quidditch and having a wonderful feast of Mrs. Weasleys best home cooking. Sitting in the kitchen with the Weasley family realized how much had changed over the last few years. Fred and George walked out on their N.E.W.T.S last year to their mothers absolute disgust to start a joke shop in Hogmeade village. She still hadn't got over it but was feeling slightly more forgiving after a summer of them doing everything they could to be nice to her. That night Harry and Ron sat up playing a game of chess. But Harry wasn't really noticing and was surprised when he saw his King being attacked violently by Ron's very vicious Knight. Ron gave a colossal yawn. 'I'm shattered' 'Yea I think we'll call it a night.' They clambered into bed and Mrs. Weasley called in to say goodnight. 'I'll wake you early in the morning' she said and turned out the light with a clap of her hands. Harry felt sleep fall over him and the only thing that was keeping him going was seeing Cho Chang's smiling face on the Hogwarts express tomorrow. With that thought in mind he smiled to himself and fell into a dreamless sleep.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Harry found himself being shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley the next morning. Groggily he and Ron lugged their trunks down the here flights of stairs to the kitchen 


End file.
